UFC Fight Night in Columbus, Ohio, delivered with the dust settling on three divisions as Curtis Blaydes, Alexa Grasso and Kai Kara-France put on a show while putting the current champions on notice. Will any of the three get a title fight with their next matchup?
Blaydes certainly hopes so, as the fighter openly called out for a title shot next. Blaydes mentioned Stipe Miocic, who was in attendance to watch the festivities, while in the Octagon for his postfight interview. With the future of Francis Ngannou and his reign as heavyweight champion in question, could we see Blaydes fighting for the interim belt this summer?
Brett Okamoto, Jeff Wagenheim and Carlos Contreras Legaspi break down the Saturday card, including Neil Magny joining Georges St-Pierre on the very top of the welterweight leaderboard and Marc Diakiese displaying exceptional grappling ability in his performance versus Viacheslav Borshchev.
Watch UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Daukaus on ESPN+
What does the future hold for Curtis Blaydes?
Who should be next: Stipe Miocic
Man, I think it might be Miocic. Why not? The only reason it wouldn’t be is if Miocic is fighting Jon Jones (presumably for an interim title). This division is rather messy, but understandably so. Francis Ngannou is out the rest of the year due to knee surgery. That likely means an interim title fight is happening. Who are the obvious candidates for an interim title fight? Miocic and Jones. But is Jones fighting? He says he is, but where is the evidence? Why hasn’t the UFC booked it yet? Jones has been talking about this move to heavyweight for the better part of a decade now. When is it happening? If Jones is ready to, then that’s the fight. Miocic vs. Jones. But I’m starting to wonder if/when we see Jones fight again. The UFC needs to get to the bottom of it. And if Jones isn’t ready to go soon, then Miocic vs. Blaydes is the fight to make.
If not Miocic? Ciryl Gane
Gane is coming off a title unification loss to Ngannou in…
Source : espn
